


Chasm (How I Curse It So)

by LPSunnyBunny



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bittersweet Ending, Court Politics, F/M, Gentle Sex, Magic, Missionary Position, Mutual Pining, Opposing Factions, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:40:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26052814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LPSunnyBunny/pseuds/LPSunnyBunny
Summary: In the world of court games and enemies at every turn, there is only one man that Rose wants. Though they can never truly tie themselves together, she can have him for as long as he's willing to give.
Relationships: Dirk's Bro | Alpha Dave Strider/Roxy's Mom | Alpha Rose Lalonde
Kudos: 9
Collections: Sloppy Seconds 2020, Sunny's Portfolio





	Chasm (How I Curse It So)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MamaSheepy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaSheepy/gifts).



> This turned out a lot more bittersweet than I expected- I hope you like it <3

“Why, Miss Lalonde, what a surprise it is to see you here.”

His voice is familiar and light, amused and good-natured as always. It would be a welcome sound if Rose was not in the middle of going from one meeting to the next.

“Strider.” She says, not breaking her stride for a moment. Her heels click menacingly on the brick floor, but Dave Strider has long-since been immune to her tools of intimidation. “Why am I not surprised that you’re here, slouching around?”

She says it like he's here more than he's not, but she offers the warlock no glance, not even a look. Rose cannot afford to be late to the next meeting, not when she’s meeting with the southern lords on behalf of the king. She keeps her tone mild, uninterested. His presence should not be of any concern to her- perhaps it should even be a bother.

“I don’t slouch.” Dave protests as he joins her on her walk, slouching as he does so. His meandering pace somehow manages to keep up with her deliberate stride, and that’s infuriating and amusing all in one.

“You are slouching right now.”

“Is that what this is?” Dave rubs his chin contemplatively.

Rose purses her lips but says no more, unwilling to let him draw her into a long-winded argument about something as mundane as _slouching_.

“How’s Dirk?” She asks instead, as if her own Roxy doesn’t send her a letter every week about their adventures as she and Dirk gallivant across the world.

Really. A witch and a warlock traveling together? It’s practically unheard of.

“Oh, same old, same old. Apparently they picked up a gal with some mighty neat healing powers, so that’s a relief.” Dave says with a little grin, his red eyes slanting sideways to look at Rose. “I don’t need a repeat of your daughter teleporting into my home in a hysterical fit about Dirk almost losing an arm.”

“If I remember correctly, Roxy was the peak of maturity and handled that situation with a grace that anyone would be proud of.” Rose says back. “It will be nice to know that someone else has their backs, though.” She begrudgingly adds.

She’s approaching the meeting room. She stops and turns to look at Dave properly.

The man is dressed in casual, dark clothing with accents of dark red, matching his eyes. He’s got a hint of stubble haunting his chin, much like the hint of shadow in his eyes. Rose knows that the same look is echoed in her own.

“How long are you staying this time?” She murmurs.

“Not long.” Dave admits. “I’m supposed to go to the north and investigate rumors of dissent.”

The words strike an aching throb into Rose’s heart.

“How far north?” She hears herself ask through numb limps.

“Far enough.”

Far enough. That tells Rose all she needs to know.

“Will you be staying in the castle tonight?” Rose asks. Dave looks at her and the silence between them is heavy.

“Yeah.” He eventually says. “People might talk though, you know?”

A deflection. Rose knows better, knows of the longing in his gaze as he looks at her. She sees it every day in the mirror.

“People already talk.” Rose puts her hand on his upper arm and feels him stiffen underneath her touch. “It’s your choice, Strider. It always has been.”

That’s not entirely true and both of them know it. Rose wishes it were that simple.

For a moment, she can pretend that the only thing keeping them apart is Dave’s nature. She turns on her heel and strides away, trying not to think about the man she’s walking away from. She has her job to do.

—

Their relationship’s always been complicated. Witches and warlocks don’t exactly… get along. Opposing approaches to magic, opposing belief sets, opposing- well, _everything_.

Dave at least can get away, can wander the world far and wide wherever he pleases, trying to outrun things he doesn’t care to think about.

Rose doesn’t have that luxury. Her place is here, in the middle of court, among the roses and thorns and poison around every corner. Her daughter is safe, adventuring across the world, and so it’s that knowledge that lets her get up in the morning and put on her robes. Her own battle armor, designed to flatter and show her standing among the court.

Everything’s a game.

Only with this game, if you lose, you _die._

Rose has never played to win- no, she plays to _survive._

This is no different.

—

The knock on her door is not unexpected. Despite his unreliable behavior, his tendency to vanish in the face of stress and pressure that he would prefer not to confront, in some things Dave is always, always predictable.

No matter how far he runs, Dave always comes back to her. Rose has made her peace with it.

(Mostly.)

“It’s open.” She says as she sits at her vanity, carefully taking off her lipstick. She doesn’t look over as the door opens, Dave’s magic as familiar to her as her own is. She does, however, meet his gaze in the mirror as he steps up behind her, his expression sheepish.

“Hey.” He murmurs. She finishes removing the black painting her lips with a last swipe and sets the cloth down. Dave puts a hand on her shoulder and she reaches up and settles her own on top of it.

They don’t wear wedding rings. They’re not married, and never will be. Not with how the factions they belong to would react.

Sometimes, the gulf between them feels like an insurmountable impasse. In moments like this, it’s like the barest crack in the stone beneath their feet.

Rose rises to her feet wordlessly, turns, and kisses him.

Dave folds her in his arms. He was so thin when he was younger, Rose remembers being able to lift him easily- but now, like this, he’s taller and broader and now Rose is the one being held so completely.

Her body _aches_ for him. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest as her arms drape around his neck, deepening the kiss into a long, languid kiss of tongues and mouths moving against each other, warm and soft and a silent language all of it’s own.

Here and now, it’s not the Grand Witch of the Court Rose Lalonde and the High Warlock Dave Strider.

They’re just Rose and Dave.

Dave is so warm. Rose knows she runs colder because of her magic, but Dave’s never shied away, not once. His heat slips into her, radiating through her breasts as they press against his chest, through his arms as they hold her, through their mouths as they kiss. It sinks into her, warming her to the core and fogging her thoughts.

Rose is the one to pull back.

“Come to bed.” She says softly, tucking a strand of hair behind Dave’s ear fondly. “You can leave in the morning- but stay for the night.”

 _Stay forever,_ she doesn’t say. She knows it would be a foolish wish. Impossible and dangerous for the both of them.

But they can have tonight.

“Yeah.” Dave says, his voice just as soft. His eyes are warm as he leans in for another kiss. Rose smooths her hands down over his shoulders and down his sides, her fingers finding the hem of his shirt and slipping underneath.

Dave’s breath stutters under her fingers and his gaze slides into something hotter. Rose quirks her mouth up into a little smile as she slides her fingers around and up his back.

“You know, Miss Lalonde,” Dave breathes, “I do believe that you are trying to entice me into something rather unsavory.”

One of his hands cup the back of her neck as he grins at her, that stupid, lopsided grin that always makes her knees go weak.

“Oh?” Rose’s breath ghosts over his mouth, the space between them almost non-existent. “Whatever do you mean, Mister Strider?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean.” Dave purrs before he closes the space between their mouths again and licks his way inside, Rose melting against his chest again.

 _Come to bed,_ she said, and yet neither of them move towards it, kissing each other as their hands carefully slide along each other’s bodies, familiar with experience and foreign with time all at once.

Dave’s hands slide down over her hips and squeeze and she presses forwards into him, feeling a familiar hardness against her front. Dave sucks in a low breath in response and Rose laughs, pressing a kiss to his jawline.

“I think something _else_ has been missing me quite a lot, don’t you think?” Rose murmurs and slides her hand between them, squeezing over Dave’s length as he bites back a soft curse.

“Rose, come on-” Dave breathes, pulling back with a regretful, but hungry look. He yanks his shirt off and tosses it aside as Rose shucks her top robe off, the air between them heated as they lock their gazes again, moving towards Rose’s wide, comfortable bed in sync.

They meet in the middle, kneeling on it as Dave wraps arms around her waist and she around his neck again, mouths meeting in a hungrier, more needy press of their lips. Dave turns and Rose goes wherever he wants her to be- which is on her back as his hands roam her body, squeezing her hips, massaging over her clothed breaths, along her sides- kissing her hungrily all the while. It’s hot, Rose aches and throbs between her legs for this wonderful fool of a man, but all she can do is cling to him and let him undress her, working her clothing free with a focused determination.

“Dave-” Rose pants, pushing him back so that she can work her shirt off and toss it to the side, leaving her in her skirt and underclothes. Dave grins at her and leans in to plant another kiss before sliding down the bed.

“I gotchu, Rose-” He’s hiking up her skirt and tugging her panties down and then he’s _lifting her leg_ and draping one over his shoulder as he leans in and his breath is hot hot hot but not as hot as his _tongue_ as it flickers out and sends lightning up Rose’s spine.

She gasps, throwing her head back, as Dave traces her folds, laps over them with broad, flat motions.

“Oh, you- Ooohh-” She dissolves into a wordless moan as he works, swirling his tongue around and licking his way up to tongue over her sensitive clit, thigh jerking on his shoulder, heel digging into his spine. “Oh, _Dave-_ ”

If Dave grins or laughs or says anything at all, Rose can’t hear it over the rushing of blood in her ears as he licks into her, plunging his tongue into her hole and pulling back, hot, darting flashes of pleasure that have her moaning and fisting the pillow underneath her head for something to hold onto. Her free heel tries to brace against the sheets as he works, Rose trying to tilt her hips up against him, but he pins her down easily.

It’s easy, for him- years and years of encounters and stolen moments and secret nights have made her body an open book to him. He can read her pages and has no hesitation towards using the information he finds against her, he can bring her to a soaking mess in a matter of minutes.

He nips at her thigh and she quivers, hips jumping, panting moans falling from her mouth.

“ _Please_ , Dave, I need you-” Rose moans, her core so hot and tight and needy, can’t he see her? See what he does to her? She needs him, _aches_ for him, how could she ever be happy with him gone? The only man to ever touch her like this is between her legs and he’s laughing, he’s pressing fingers into her and crooking them and she’s getting close, so close, the coil growing tighter and tighter as Dave finds that spot inside her and grinds his fingers against it, sending sparks off inside her body like a chain reaction to light her up.

“Come on, Rose, come on-” Dave murmurs and she wants to snap back at him but she doesn’t have words because Dave is mouthing at her clit and sucking on it and then she _is_ cumming, she’s sinking a hand into his hair and arching against him, hips rolling against his face as she shakes apart, every inch of her lit up with a breathless, trembling, electric pleasure.

She collapses back against the bed, thighs switching, and stares up at Dave as he wipes his mouth and leans in and then he’s kissing her as she’s sex-drunk, riding high.

“You want me for real?” Dave breathes into her mouth.

“Yes, you idiot-” Rose gasps. “I drank the tea already, you don’t have to worry about it-”

“Okay, okay.” Dave acquiesces and Rose fumbles to strip her bra and skirt off as Dave works his pants down and off.

With the last vestigial trappings removed, it truly is just the two of them as Dave settles between Roses legs, smoothing his hands up her front and gently thumbing over her nipples for a moment. She’s never been overly sensitive there and Dave knows this, but he likes her breasts so she lets him indulge for a moment.

Then,

“Dave Strider you better get your cock inside me before I flip you over and ride you.”

Rose isn’t feeling _that_ indulgent. She is throbbing for him and he is _making her wait._

“Alright, alright.” Dave says with a laugh. “Is that a promise or a threat?” He leans in for another kiss.

“Yes.” Rose murmurs against his mouth.

She can feel that Dave wants to retort, so she grips his hair tightly. He lets out a stuttered moan and his hands find her legs, hiking her up as he settles between them again.

His throbbing manhood is hot as he presses it’s length against her folds- he rocks them together for a moment, letting her feel the wet slide of their most intimate places together, teasing her with the grind of his cock against her budding clit.

“ _Dave._ ” Rose moans in protest and then he’s shifting and gently pressing into her. Even after all this time, he still treats her like something precious, something to be cherished, his cock slipping slowly, but surely, into her body.

He’s hot and thick and he fills Rose up so perfectly, pressing in to the base and nestling right into her where he belongs.

“Dave…” Rose sighs in pleasure, cracking her eyes open to look up at him. She’s at a loss for words and she can tell that he is, too- he’s breathing low and heavy and has the kind of far-off, rapturous expression on his face he gets when performing rituals- only instead of focusing on a god, he’s focused on _Rose._

“Yeah.” He whispers and leans in to kiss her. There are no words needed here, not like this. Rose wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and gently rolls up against him.

Dave moves.

Rose moves with him.

They rock and press together in a dance as old as time, the heady slide of their bodies hot and a perfect press of skin on skin. Rose’s breasts pushing up against Dave’s chest, her fingers in his hair- the plunge of his cock in and out of her folds sending ripples of pleasure in their wake, echoing between them.

 _I love you._ Rose thinks, but does not say. _Stay with me._

But, for all her magic, she cannot change what fate dictates. So instead she kisses at his neck and moans and lets Dave make love to her. This is the only way they can express their feelings for each other at the truest, most base level.

She can feel his magic reaching for her and hers is responding in time- heat in her core, in her belly, in her body, spreading through every inch of herself, chasing away the chill of her ethereal masters until the only ties she has is to Dave, Dave, Dave Dave Dave, the man she loves but can never keep.

“Rose.” Dave pants, and his voice is warm and full of naked affection that Rose bathes in, that she bottles up to save for the lonely nights. “Rose, I-”

She captures his mouth in a kiss to cut off the words. She cannot let him say it, because then she will ask him to stay and Dave cannot stay. He is not a flower to grow and thrive and destroy the others in court, he is not a puppet for her masters to sink their claws into and turn to their desires like they have turned her.

Dave is a bird. He needs to be free. Though he may come home to her to roost, he cannot be caged here, caged with her, or he will die. Rose knows this.

“I’m here, Dave.” Rose whispers, as his manhood presses so deep and warm into her. “I’m here- I’m not going anywhere.”

She rocks on the bed with every thrust of their bodies, but she’s anchored, tied down and protected with Dave all around her.

“I know.” Dave breathes, leaning in so he can kiss her neck. He doesn’t do more than light presses- they can’t even risk a single mark showing, not with the vultures that circle around Rose.

She doesn’t have to say anything- she knows Dave can read it in the shifts of her expression, in the way she hold him tighter, in the way her gasping moans are rising in pitch. She’s close- every thrust is pushing right up into that hot space in her belly and she’s dancing right on that edge.

“With me, Dave-” She gasps. “Can you-?”

“Yeah- Yeah, I can-” Dave pants and shifts her legs, putting her at a slightly different angle. His groan sinks into her bones and she feels _feverish,_ desperate to hit that peak again.

She chases it down, hunts after that tight coil in her belly and pins it down, gripping at his shoulders and moaning helplessly, her control slipping and little dark sparks showering against Dave’s back under her fingers as she cums, pulsing pleasure washing over her, out from her core, as she shakes apart, safe in Dave’s arms.

Dave thrusts in and his hips slap against hers as he buries himself completely, cock inside her, face in her neck, the both of them in her bed- and she can feel the heat pulsing deep into her, in her belly, filling her up. She shivers and arches through it as Dave pants, his fingers smoothing up and down her sides like he’s trying to ground herself, like he’s fighting to stay in one pieces.

He stays there for a long moment as Rose lets her fingers dance up and down his spine, a soothing touch. They’re both panting like they ran a marathon as Dave leans in and kisses her, barely able to keep their mouths together as they both gasp for air.

Then he’s pulling back and out and reaching for the bed sheets to tug them up. It’s easy enough to open her arms and let Dave curl up against her side, head resting on her shoulder as they slowly cool down.

She presses a silent kiss to the crown of Dave’s head. No words are needed, here- it’s just a soft, comfortable hush of gentle breathing and the slow slipping over hands over each other as they just touch and touch and touch.

Enjoying the little time they’re able to steal away for themselves.

—

In the morning, Rose gets up. She rouses Dave and he gives her a gentle kiss before he leaves to go back to his own quarters.

She washes up and removes all traces of him from her body. She dresses in her robes and applies her lipstick, her reminder in the mirror of who she is.

Then she leaves her rooms. She will not see Dave off on his journey to the north. There is no reason for her to do so and to do so would only cause tongues to wag.

That doesn’t stop her from slipping away to his room before he leaves- she can’t kiss him, not with her lips painted, but she can press a charm into his hands that will bring him luck, woven with her magic, and she can wish him farewell with a gentle brush of her fingers to his mouth.

Every time Dave leaves for distant places, it could be his last.

Every day Rose plays the game, it could be her last.

But, somehow, they always find their way back to each other.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoy my writing, check me out on twitter at [@LPSunnyBunny](http://www.twitter.com/LPSunnyBunny)!


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